Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and Realme 1 are best phones under Rs 10,000, or you can wait for Nokia 5.1 Plus sale

If you are looking for the best phone under Rs 10,000, this is a piece for you.

Sneha Saha

New Delhi

August 29, 2018

UPDATED:
August 29, 2018 09:47 IST

offline

There are two types of phone buyers: One group wants the absolute best, irrespective of the price. The other set of people look for the value of money, and often don't want to spend more than Rs 10,000 on their phone. They just want a device that can handle day-to-day task well. Facebook, WhatsApp, some decent photos from its camera, may be can run Candy Crush once in a while, that is all most consumers want from their affordable phone. If you fall into this category and are looking for the best phone under Rs 10,000, this is a piece for you.

Right now, there are a bunch of pretty decent smartphones available in India under Rs 10,000. Although, almost all of them also lack something or other. You can't have it all, especially when you are not going to spend more than Rs 10,000. The good bit, however, is that all phones in this list of best phones to buy under Rs 10,000 is worth its price and is good enough for the regular day-to-day use. In fact, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is a phone that you can even call an all-rounder. And hence, it is also the best phone to buy under Rs 10,000.

Best phone under Rs 10,000: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

In India Today Tech review we had called the Redmi Note 5 "the best phone under Rs 10,000. Mostly". The Redmi Note 5 is available for Rs 9,999. This is the price for the variant with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage. If you're looking for a phone that has great build quality, looks good for its price, delivers great performance and offers a long-lasting battery life -- well, close your eyes -- and put your trust the Redmi Note 5. The phone also clicks decent pictures, if not great. This is what we said about the Redmi Note 5 camera in our review.

"For what it's worth, the Redmi Note 5, captures some good-looking photos -- with occasional softness -- in good light with good amount of detail and mostly spot-on (if a little oversaturated) colours. Dynamic range could have been better, but overall, the Redmi Note 5 should suffice in ideal lighting. Xiaomi's new phone is also able to capture some well to-do photos -- with occasional softness -- in tricky light situations with good detail, but, then again we've seen better from Xiaomi. Low light photos are prone to -- often excessive - noise."

Phone with the best camera under Rs 10,000: Xiaomi Redmi Y2

This is another win for Xiaomi. The Xiaomi Redmi Y2, the successor to the Y1, has "the best all-round camera phone under Rs 10,000". The Redmi Y2 is capable of clicking pictures with good amount of details and great colours in ideal lighting. The phone can also capture fairly good pictures with good amount of details in tricky light. It is just in low-light that Redmi Y2 cameras falter a bit. The Xiaomi Redmi Y2 sells for a starting price of Rs 9,999. This is also a Xiaomi phone where the company focuses on the front camera performance. The Redmi Y2 clicks nice selfies and in good lighting condition as well as supports portrait aka bokeh mode for both front and rear cameras.

The Redmi Y2 comes with a dual-camera system. The dual camera module consists of a primary sensor of 12-megapixel sensor with f/2.2 lens and a secondary sensor that uses 5-megapixel sensor. On the front, the Redmi Y2 comes with a 16-megapixel camera with soft LED flash.

Fastest phone under Rs 10,000: Realme 1

We reviewed the Realme 1 and found the performance to be the best thing about the phone. The smartphone is capable of handling day-to-day task easily without any lags or stutters. Not many phones priced under Rs 10,000 can run heavy GPU games smoothly. But surprisingly, Realme 1 can. The Realme 1 is powered by 2GHz octa-core processor and comes with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage -- although this variant costs a little above Rs 10,000 -- that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. The smartphone is also capable of running Asphalt 8 smoothly. This is what we said about the Realme 1's performance:

During my time with the phone, I barely found any lags or stutters. Even while playing graphics intensive games like Tekken or Asphalt 8, the phone manages to stay smooth and cool throughout. Meanwhile, multitasking is also handled with ease.

But don't forget the Redmi 5A

Xiaomi launched the Redmi 5A months ago, but the craze for the phone doesn't seem to die. It is the only Xiaomi phone right now that is sold in flash sale, apart from the Poco F1, which is a Poco phone. And it is easy to see why this phone is in such demand. The Redmi 5A looks good, offers great build quality, its battery lasts fairly long (read at least one full day) and its performance is quite good. Then there is the price. At Rs 5,999, it is priced just right.

The Redmi 5A comes with 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor coupled with Adreno 308 GPU. We reviewed the Redmi 5A and found it to be one the best performer in its segment. The Redmi 5A shows no immediate visible lags or stutter while switching between home screens or even multitasking. This is what we said about the Redmi 5A in our review:

Just like the Redmi 4A, the Redmi 5A is also the most powerful (and most power-efficient) smartphone that you can buy in the Indian market right now.

Phone under Rs 10,000 with best battery life: 10.or E

It's a one-year-old phone. But 10.or E is still the best phone you can buy under Rs 10,000, if it is the great battery life that you want from your phone. Actually, not just 10.or E, almost all 10.or (Tenor) phones come with a great battery, including the 10.or D2 which we recently reviewed. But unlike other 10.or phones, the 10.or E also offers something extra. It is also capable of capturing great pictures, has a good display and can handle games very well.

India Today Tech had reviewed the 10.or E and found that the phone was capable of lasting more than a day. You charge the phone in the morning and you're good to go for the rest of the day. Rather one and a half day. The 10.or E comes with a 4000mAh battery. The smartphone was launched in India at a price of around Rs 10,000, but now it sells for Rs 6,999 on Amazon India store.

Or wait for the Nokia 5.1 Plus

There is one more option: the Nokia 5 Plus, which HMD Global launched in India last week. However, unlike the Nokia 6.1 Plus that goes on sale on August 30, the Nokia 5.1 Plus will be on sale only in September. This sale will be possibly in mid-September, and there is a strong chance that the Nokia 5.1 Plus will be priced around Rs 10,000. Now, purely from the hardware and specification angle, the Nokia 5.1 Plus may not beat the Redmi Note 5. But with its Android One software that uses clean Android Oreo, and its smooth interface and performance the Nokia 5.1 Plus may end up being one of the best phones to buy under Rs 10,000. Recently when we got a chance to try the phone, here is what we said:

"While the company hasn't revealed the pricing yet, the Nokia 5.1 Plus will obviously fall well under Rs 15,000. If it's priced closer to Rs 10,000, the phone has a very good chance to take on the likes of the Realme 1 and Redmi Note 5. It definitely has the premium design language and a capable processor to do that."

Get real-time alerts and all the news on your phone with the all-new India Today app. Download from